HD Radio

HD Radio:

Listen here: http://www.hdradio.com/how_does_hd_digital_radio_sound.php

A company called iBiquity Digital is the reason HD radio is available. They license this technology to radio stations to help them with the conversion process. Unlike HD television, you have the option to switch to HD radio. It is not something you have to do.

HD radio is a new way of looking at radio. What it is looking to do is upgrade the radio we all ready have. There is no charge for HD radio unlike a lot of the things that are coming out now. HD is not new radio; it is an upgrade of how the signals are transmitted, from analog to digital signals. Digital technology allows a radio station to transmit more information in the same radio wave. Primarily, this means higher quality sound. This means that FM will have a more cd like quality and AM will have the traditional FM sound. This in turn means no more static, pops, or crackles, and even fades. There will be more information transmitted through this radio such as song titles and the artist’s names. Digital signals are less vulnerable to reception problems and if you do happen to lose the signal your radio will switch back to analog.

HD radio works just about the same as regular analog radio. The radio station sends out the analog and digital radio signals, along with a third signal for text data. The digital signal is compressed before being transmitted. The three signals are transmitted from the radio station's upgraded digital transmitter. The interference, caused by the signal reflecting off of buildings, is ignored by the digital radio, which is able to discern the true signal and ignore interference. Your radio receives the signal and, depending on your equipment, you hear either the digital or analog feed.

While the future of HD radio is not known yet, there are many predictions as to what is will become. HD radio has quite a few things that satellite radio does not. For example, most people like analog radio for the local news, sports, weather, and traffic. These are all things you cannot get with satellite radio. These things are all very important to the average listener, if they are stuck in traffic they want to hear the traffic report to know how long it will be till they are out of the traffic. Also satellite radio charges you to listen where as HD radio does not. While others are saying HD radio isn’t going to do well because not many people understand it or know how to use it.